Former Deputy Mayor of the Village of Spring Valley Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for Role in Bribery Scheme

Former Deputy Mayor of the Village of Spring Valley Sentenced to Three Years in Prison for Role in Bribery Scheme

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that JOSEPH DESMARET was sentenced yesterday in White Plains federal court to three years in prison for his participation in a scheme in which he accepted over $10,000 in cash bribes in exchange for his votes, as a member of the Spring Valley Board of Trustees, to sell Village land and steer a state-funded transportation contract to a real estate development company. DESMARET was sentenced before U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Karas, before whom DESMARET pled guilty on January 29, 2014.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Bharara stated: “Joseph Desmaret’s sentence is a reminder that every politician, no matter how high the office he holds, must act only in the interest of the public he serves.”

According to the Indictment and other documents filed in this case:

DESMARET accepted approximately $10,500 in cash bribes from an undercover FBI agent (“UC”) and a cooperating witness in exchange for his vote in favor of a sale of land owned by Spring Valley to a company he believed was controlled by the UC. In addition, DESMARET agreed to steer to the UC’s company New York State funding for road work associated with the project that he believed the UC’s company was developing.

In addition to the prison term, DESMARET, 57, formerly of Monsey, New York, was also sentenced to two years of supervised release, and ordered to forfeit $10,500. Noramie Jasmin, DESMARET’s co-defendant and the then-mayor of Spring Valley, New York, was convicted for her role in the bribery scheme in April 2015 and is currently scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Colleen McMahon on August 7, 2015.

Mr. Bharara praised the outstanding efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Rockland County District Attorney’s Office.

This case is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division and Public Corruption Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Douglas B. Bloom and Justin Anderson are in charge of the prosecution.